Fence-post and wire-tightener.



L. SWANK.

FENCE POST AND WIRE TIGHTENER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 1913.

1 0 942 Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Jul- .1.

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IINIIED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAFE SWANK, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO DWIGGINS WIRE FENCE COMPANY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

FENCE-POST AND WIRE-TIGHTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 5, 1913.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914;.

Serial No. 804,807.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAFE. SWANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have inventeda new and useful Fence-Post and WVireTightener, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture and erection of wire fence it has long been customary to provide the end posts with attachments for receiv ing the ends of the wires or wire fabric by a. rotatable atchet mechanism by means of which the running wires of the fence might be put under suitable tension, but so far as I am aware, such tcnsioning devices have been in the form of separate attachments for application to the posts and were, therefore, provided with means by which they might be individually secured to the posts, said securing means varying with the character of the material of the post and also vary ing with the size of the post.

Such attachments have, when separately considered, been comparatively inexpensive but nevertheless, in the aggregate, materially affect the price at which the complete fence may be sold to the user, and the object of my present invention is, therefore, to produce, at less expense than has heretofore been possible, a fence post which will embody in itself so much of a wire-tightcm ing structure that such wire-tightening structure may be completed by a simple casting readily insertible without the use of special fitting and without the use of special tools.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fence comprising one of my improved posts and wire-tightening constructions; Fig. 2 a perspective view of a portion of the post; Fig. 3 a perspective view of one of the Windlass members; and Fig. 1 a section parallel with the plane of the running wires of the fence.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a fence post of suitable length and lateral rigidity for the particular fence into which it is to be incorporated and this post comprises a flange or vertical portion preferably arranged parallel with the plane of the fence.

In practice, I think the most effective form of post may be obtained by a suitable length of commercial angle iron. Through the flange 11. I punch a plurality of holes 12 each of which is arranged to lie substantially at the height, from the ground, of one of the run wires 13 of the fence. This hole 12 is, in its major portion, circular, but is provided with a polygonal extension (conveniently rectangular) and in one of its bounding sides substantially tangential to the adjacent portion of the main part of the hole, this polygonal portion having its opposite side arranged at a distance from the first mentioned side less than the diameter of the main body of the hole and conjoining the boundary of the main body of the hole at a decided angle, as indicated at 151'. The Windlass, for cooperation with the post thus formed, comprises a polygonal head 15, a main shank or drum portion 16 upon which the running wire 13 is to be wound, and an llltCl'lllCCllfLtO polygonal portion 17 formed to nest fairly closely within the polygonal extension of the hole 12. i

In order to prevent accidental withdrawal of the Windlass member from the post, I find it desirable to have the polygonal portion 17 of the Windlass of smaller dimension than the drum portion 16, so that when the intermediate polygonal portion 16 is nested within the polygonal extension of the hole 12, the Windlass will be locked laterally of the fence plane. The drum portion 16 of the Windlass is provided with some convenient means by which the running wire of the fence may be attached to it and I believe that the cheapest and most efficient construc tion is a diametrical hole 18 which may be readily east through the drum.

In use, the Windlass members are inserted through the holes 12, a run wire attached to the drum member of each, and the Windlass is then turned with an ordinary wrench in the direction indicated by the arrow, this turning being readily accomplished because the polygonal portion 17 will roll upon the corner 1 1 readily into the main body of the hole 12, but when the wire has been sufliciently tightened it will pull baekwardly upon the Windlass and roll it back into the polygonal extension of the hole 12 where it will be, by the tension of the wire, locked in place against rotation in the opposite direction.

In the drawings I have shown the polygonal extension of the hole 12 as projected in the direction of the extended fence fabric,

but it will be readily understood that it may also be projected upwardly, this variation really requiring a reversal of the running Wire of the fence relative to the Winding drum.

7 The Windlass member may be readily and cheaply cast and used Without any particular fitting or machining, and the hole 12 may be readily punched, by a single operation, in the flange 11 so that the complete apparatus may be produced at a very small cost. 7

I claim as my invention:

1. A fence post comprising a flange having a hole formed therethrough, said hole having a polygonal extension one side of which conjoins With the main body of the hole at a substantial angle, and a cooperating Windlass member comprising a drum portion projectable through the aforesaid hole, a head by means of which a Winding force may be applied, and an intermediate polygonal portion of less dimension than the head and the drum and fitting the polygonal extension of the aforesaid hole in such extension, rotation of the Windlass member Will be prevented in one direction and permitted in the other,

2. A fence post comprising a flange having a hole formed therethrough, said hole having a polygonal extension one side of Which conjoins With the main body of the hole at a substantial angle, and a cooperating Windlass member comprising a drum portion projectable through the aforesaid hole, a head by means of Which a Winding force may be applied, and an intermediate polygonal portion fitting the polygonal extension of the aforesaid hole in such manner that, When nested Within said hole extension, rotation of the Windlass member will be prevented in one direction and permitted in the other.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Anderson, Indiana, this 29th day of November, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and thirteen.

LAFE Sl VANK.

lVitnesses J. E. DAvis, M. F. CHENEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C. 

